by Kai Widdeson
Jaq leads a group of spearmen who follow him in strict formation. Bruce and Manuel both stand among his ranks, aggressively urging the others to continue forwards. Their poisoned edges bristle as they march, forming an unstoppable wedge as the guards are driven backwards away from the gatehouse.
Once through the gate I immediately throw myself sideways and away from the conflict. Orrian is already disposing of colony men as he waits for us. After checking that our entire group has made it, we take off running down the nearest exit from the courtyard. Soon the whole fountain will be surrounded by fighting, we need to be out of here by the time that happens.
Something whistles through the air.
CRASH!
They’ve managed to drop the iron gate, it doesn’t matter, it’s too late now. The spikes fall upon the carts with shocking force but they carry on no further. A couple of villagers fall to the ground screaming as they are caught on the shoulders, but the gap is still large enough to allow for our fighters that continue to rush in.
We duck behind a long row of houses, letting Damion direct us now. He leads us down a small alley that hugs the inside of the outer wall. Something crashes behind us, a guard lays crumpled on the ground. His arms are twisted and his helmet caved in, an arrow pierces his chainmail.
We continue sprinting down the narrow path, taking hairpin turns as Damion weaves us through the maze-like fabric of the city. The collisions grow fainter in the distance. Around us, families, children, and tradespeople stick their heads out of their doors and their windows and gawp at us as we pass.
We continue our sprint for several more minutes, Damion is quick but I know we’re all holding Orrian back. Randall breathes heavily next to me but he doesn’t fall behind. We are going around the side of the main entrance, blindly following Damion towards the hidden entrance that he promises.
Finally, we reach the moat, a building juts out from the side of the wall, forming an overhang into the water below. Without hesitation, Damion slides down the steep bank and begins swimming.
“What-?” Horas starts from behind us, there is no clear way over the wall opposite.
“Just follow,” Orrian orders. We must trust the former slave, he’s our way in.
Damion waits for us by the opposite bank, a lot of the grass here has yellowed in death. He instructs Orrian to give him a leg up and he is thrust towards the edge of the wall. We form a similar ladder to the one we used to escape the first time until eventually we all line the edge of the wall. We press our backs into the rough stone as we try and keep our balance on the narrow stretch of grass.
“Look up,” Damion points. The overhang is actually hollow, I can just make out some light coming from a hole in the top.
“Is that what I think it is?” Orrian says, turning to face Damion with disgust. I shake my head in disbelief, Damion’s hidden entrance is a garderobe. Becker has mentioned these before when shaming our few measly outhouses. This is where the guards stationed here come to relieve themselves, their waste dropping directly into the moat below.
Damion nods in response. He plants his feet in a small nook in the wall and his hands in others. I now notice that there are several missing chunks from the wall leading all the way up to the chute. I sure hope all the guards are too busy to appear above, they might get a bit of a surprise if they look down.
Damion climbs upwards before Orrian tucks his knives away and copies his movements. Now it’s my turn, we slowly ascend the wall until we reach the edges of the chute. I try not to overthink my situation as I put my legs against one side of the chute and my back into the other. Orrian has it worse, after continuously refusing footwear in Tarrin, he now must scale the walls barefoot. We press against the sides and gradually we begin to approach the light above. Damion mutters a thanks below as Orrian catches him as he slips.
A moment later we pause in our climb. Damion unsheathes a blade above and begins widening the hole. Sawdust begins to drift down toward us but Orrian blocks me from most of it. Damion grunts a second before a loud snap cracks around the narrow tunnel. A chunk of wood clatters as it bounces on a stone floor and we pull ourselves up through the hole.
As expected, we’ve come out in a small privy chamber. Upon examining our clothes in the light of a small window, I find that there’s relatively little evidence of our method of entrance. Although, the smell is undeniable.
Orrian gives Damion a nod as we all push into one another to give the door enough room to open. Damion quickly checks our exit before we all come tumbling out into a narrow room. The space is not unlike the other section of wall that we breached in our escape.
Orrian takes the lead, blades ready, as Damion gives him directions by his side. As we move from room to room, no guards are in sight. They must know of the breaching of the outer walls by now. I remember how they had sent a signal between the walls to inform their neighbours of our escape, surely, they’ll be arming themselves and preparing to defend the inner city should our army make it that far.
We reach a set of steps leading downwards. We take the stairs two at a time but are careful to remain as silent as possible, we’re surrounded by another whole army of soldiers within these walls. Some of them might have rushed to the others’ aids but there are surely still far too many to take on alone should we be caught.
Orrian carefully opens the last door, we’re finally back at ground level. The plain side of one of the large halls stands looms above us. Another wooden door sits at the base of one of the large towers which sits connected to the edge of the hall. The two buildings block off our front and our right, a path stretches to the left around the outside of the hall. We need to get to the dungeon first which means avoiding the inside of the castle, that leaves only one route.
Orrian crouches as he steps out onto the path, he peers around each corner as we make our way through this new cluster of buildings. None of us straighten as we pass undetected beneath the height of the colony’s windows.
Orrian comes to a stop as the path narrows between the last two buildings. The path leads out into a lavish small yard. Flowers and vines trail over decorative wooden structures forming tunnels at the yard’s edges. In the middle, water gently cascades over an elegant lady carved from white stone. Three benches surround her and an uncountable number of birds dart between the pavestones and nests overhead.
“You see the door on the opposite side?” Damion whispers as he points out our destination. “Head through there and into the first door on your right.”
“We need to go to the cells!” Horas hisses.
“You need the warden’s keys first,” says Damion. “While you’re in there, I’m going to go up the steps to a different room a little further away. Wait for me in the warden’s chambers.”
“Where are you going?” Orrian asks.
“I can’t leave the other children here. They’re coming with us,” Damion says. Orrian curses but we all know that we’ll never be able to live with ourselves if we don’t take them with us.
Orrian steps out into the wooden tunnel, flowers weave their way through the planks overhead. We’re halfway around the edge when a door opens directly in front of Orrian.
A young woman in a stunning rose dress drops her basket as she steps out in front of us. She manages a startlingly loud scream before Orrian can get to her. He grabs her as she tries to duck back inside the door and clamps a hand over her mouth. She struggles and kicks against him but eventually he sets her down to the floor as she loses consciousness.
“Hurry,” Orrian orders Damion before sprinting for the warden’s chambers. There’s little chance that the lady’s terror will have gone unheard.
The rest of us wait in the hallway and guard the door as Orrian disappears inside to fetch the keys. Damion heads up the staircase and out of sight. Someone inside clearly puts up a struggle but shortly after Orrian emerges with a large ring victoriously in his grip.
“Where is he?” Orrian whispers through gritted teeth as a couple of
long minutes go by.
Many pairs of footsteps eventually begin to slap against the steps towards us. We duck inside the warden’s chamber with the door slightly cracked open and ready our blades.
Damion enters the room gesturing for us to follow. Behind him, at least twenty children wait expectedly. They line the stairs; more whispers tell us that even more wait around the corner.
Damion stands in front of his adopted family. Worrisome bruising and deep gashes unite them, my anger flares as I notice a beaten girl who can be no older than six or seven. Has she too been taken from her family? Have all of them?
“There’s too many!” Randall whispers, panicked.
“They’re coming with us,” Damion decides, he opens the door back out into the courtyard.
Damion yelps and stumbles backwards as three soldiers stand in the doorway, clearly not expecting to see us either. Orrian knocks Damion aside and leaps onto the central soldier, knocking him to the ground.
Randall and Horas both dive forwards to protect the forest king from the other two guards. A particularly large girl knocks past me and begins raining blows down on Horas’ opponent until he crumples. By the time Randall manages to thrust his spear through his assailant’s defences, Orrian has managed to deal with his own. There’s no point being quiet anymore, anyone within earshot will already be on their way.
Damion takes off running through an archway leading away from the beautiful garden. This area of the castle is clearly more to be used as grand living quarters than guard outposts. Incredible murals of multicoloured glass catch the morning light around us, every space hosts some new delicately sculpted figure with plaques within their bases. Large windows treat us to glimpses of another more luxurious world. Ancient and carefully pruned trees emerge from specific patches of soil around our feet. They stand as tall as even the highest windows of the houses here, all of which are at least three floors high.
We continue through shallow tunnels beneath ornate bridges connecting homes in the sky and we sprint past many more unsuspecting citizens. Like the unconscious lady in the rose dress, these people are dressed even more extravagantly than those who watched us from the tavern that first night. Their clothes are not simple fabrics of dirtied greens, browns, and whites. Instead, they wear colours very rarely ever seen in nature. They are all so bright and with so many layers. Some even have delicate looking hats and headpieces despite sheltering from our stampede in alcoves at the front of their homes.
We skid to a stop as we reach the edge of the main courtyard. Archers line the walls above and, as expected, the bridge has been raised. The conflict is louder now, our army must be nearing the inner city. Damion ushers the slaves through a small door nearby and tells them to join us only when we come back out of the dungeon. Randall pushes me closer into the wall as a group of guards march out of the main hall and towards the guardhouse.
As soon as the door closes behind them, Orrian moves. If any new groups come out now or any of the archers choose to look inwards, we’ll be at their mercy. Miraculously, as we cling in the shadows of the steps, Orrian manages to get the correct key the first time and we slip inside the dungeon’s entrance without anyone noticing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
We swing around the stone staircase, descending as quickly as we dare. The familiar stench of the dungeon strengthens with each step. Orrian peers through the low tunnel once we reach the bottom, but he can’t see anyone waiting for us. We sprint towards the cells.
The tribespeople have already stirred to their feet at our commotion and the dungeon is filled with cheers as Orrian leads the rescue. Hands reach out from between the bars in celebration and desperation to be rid of their cages. Orrian starts unlocking the cells nearest the doors, desperately trying to quieten the prisoners to stop them from attracting any attention.
Randall and I have already left the rest of them to continue forwards. I pass the long line of cells and flickering torches, Tharrin and Astera greet me as I pass. Everyone has changed noticeably since we were last down here, the poor conditions and lack of food are visibly taking a toll on them. There are also many more injured and a few more bodies are left against the walls than I remember. The floor has been scrubbed clean since the battle and the bodies removed, but I wonder how many tribespeople later died from their wounds in these cells.
My mother is already clinging to the bars as I reach the far end of the dungeon. Her arms reach out for me and I take both of her hands.
“Dale?! Randy?” she says questioningly, refusing to trust her own eyes so easily. She glances at the spear in Randall’s hand, surely, she must recognise the runes. She doesn’t mention them and returns her attention back to me.
“It’s ok,” I say. “We’re getting you out of here.”
“How are you here?” she asks, tears flowing freely.
“We’re fighting back,” I reveal. I can’t help myself as I begin to cry as well. “The villages, we’re together. There’s an army of us outside. We snuck in.”
“And Alice?” Mother asks.
“She’s ok, they’ve taken her some place safe away from all of the villages. She’s with Ida but it’s alright, Arthur didn’t know about the Damion and the others,” I say.
Mother audibly sighs with relief. Behind us, more of the cells are creaking open. Word has finally gotten around to be quiet and the newly freed tribespeople force themselves to reign in their jubilation. Astera rushes out of her cell and throws herself into Horas’ open arms.
“Hello again,” Orrian says to my mother, allowing himself a small smile as he crosses to her cell.
She collides with me as soon as Orrian opens the cell door with a gentle click. It has been so long since I have been in her loving embrace. My arms easily connect behind her back, she’s lost a worrying amount of weight. But it’s ok, finally, after so long, we’re back together again. We cry openly now, Randall is waiting patiently by our sides until Mother drags him into the embrace. The three of us stand there in each other’s arms, we could have never let go had Orrian not spoke up.
“Ok. There’s an army at the gates and we need to get you all out of here,” he says, addressing his people. There are maybe fifteen tribespeople and as many prisoners from elsewhere. Who knows what those other prisoners did to get in here? They may be cutthroats, thieves, and other genuine criminals. There’s no time to check them all now, by helping us, this can be their second chance. I hope they don’t waste it.
“What if we want to fight!” a woman calls out. I look around for the source, of course it’s Medea. She doesn’t look any different apart from perhaps a slightly more yellowish tint to her skin. She stands before her king defiantly, unbroken and undefeated. Around her there are cries of agreement.
“If you want to fight, stay with us. It is your decision,” Orrian says. His people immediately begin flocking behind him as they show their support. Orrian is forced to refuse several sickly prisoners as they try to join the fighters. We need the numbers, but he’s clearly not willing to let the more vulnerable of his people throw their lives away.
Orrian turns to face the twins who had been among the first to join his side.
“I need you two to go with them,” he says.
“What? No! We can help!” Astera starts, Horas remains quiet by her side and I remember his distaste for violence.
“You are helping. I need fighters to protect the rest of our people whilst you escort them out of here,” Orrian turns in our direction. “Randall, can you lead them back the way we came in?”
Randall nods.
“I can’t go with you,” I say turning to mother, Randall overhears and rounds towards me.
“What do you mean? Yes you-” Randall begins.
“I know,” Mother cuts in gently. “You need to go with him,” she nods over in Orrian’s direction. He still sorts through his people, getting them ready to either fight or escape. Randall looks pained.
“I’m coming with you then,” he says.
“Damion can do that,” says Randall
“Damion needs to come with us. They need you with them, make sure Mother gets out of here safely,” I instruct. Randall takes a moment before reluctantly agreeing.
“Be careful though, kid,” he says, passing me the blades from his own waist.
I move to join the fighters, handing out mine and Randall’s spare blades to those who are still unarmed.
“Is everyone ready?” Orrian calls out over the top of the whispers. “Let’s go then.”
Orrian leads those who will be fighting through the tunnel first. I give Mother one last squeeze as she kisses me on the cheek. I nod to Randall before he too pulls me into a quick embrace. I stumble past the twins as he pushes me towards Orrian. Astera gives me a sad smile and Horas pats me on the back as I pass.
I end up next to Tharrin, only a few heads behind the king, there’s a rumble from behind as the second group begins to follow. We reach the top of the stone steps without problem, but Orrian hesitates at the iron gate leading to the outside courtyard.
The archers are loosing arrow after arrow, our army must be directly behind the walls. In front, several rows of colony soldiers wait in front of the raised bridge. They’re going to notice us as soon as we come out.
“We need to distract them,” Orrian whispers backwards. “We need to try and get inside the gatehouse, if we can lower the bridge the army outside can join us.”
The people in front of me nod in understanding. Orrian pauses for a breath before swinging the iron bars aside.
The young king stands with his back against the wall as his people begin rushing past him. In the noise of the conflict outside the walls, their bare feet scraping on the pavestones are silent. They charge the closest ranks of the colony soldiers, leaping onto their backs before they even know that there’s another threat.
I emerge into the daylight, sword in front of me, when Orrian pulls me to one side. Similarly, he grabs Damion by the scruff of his neck and drags him next to us.